Shoelace decoration

ABSTRACT

A shoelace ornament has an upper body, a lower body and a hinge that hingedly couples the upper body to the lower body at one respective end of each of said upper body and lower body. A lock across the hinge serves to lock the upper body to the lower body. The upper body and the lower body define therebetween, when the ornament is in a closed position, a shoelace opening for the passage therethrough of a shoelace threaded through a footwear article. The shoelace opening is configured to receive the shoelace therein with just enough force to hold onto it, without excessively pinching or squeezing the shoelace between the upper and lower bodies, regardless of whether the shoelace is round bodied or flat bodied.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to clothing accessories and, more particularly, to decorative elements that are shaped and configured to be freely attached and dis-attached from shoelaces.

A large body of prior art is directed to accessories that are used for attaching decorative or ornaments to shoelaces or to devices that grasp the tied, free ends of the shoelaces to prevent them from becoming untied.

In general, one objective of the present invention is to provide decorative or ornamental elements that are freely and easily attachable and dis-attachable to and from shoelaces, holding onto but avoiding excessively pinching, squeezing or otherwise possibly harming the shoelaces, while simultaneously attaining a good and stable attachment of the ornament to the shoelace.

The prior art is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,715,094; 5,022,127; 8,782,860; 5,649,342; and 7,559,127. The prior art is also exemplified by U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2016/0081432; 2009/0077778; 2005/0132546; 2015/0296923; 2007/0169382; and 2019/0059518. The prior art is further exemplified by foreign patent documents including KR 20100106269A; CA 2704323; CN 2029501070; JP 3148372U; KR 20140072691; KR 20160110318A; CN 2049305480; KR 10133887B1; KR 101512325B1; and KR 20130017528A.

The aforementioned U.S. patents and patent publications are incorporated by reference herein.

Briefly commenting on some of the mentioned prior art, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0081432 describes a one piece locking device for a shoelace that is also decorative. Its main purpose it to prevent tied shoelaces becoming untied. It has two hinged components with serrations both above and below that pinch and might punch through a shoelace material. Another reference is primarily configured for attaching ornaments to the dangling free ends of the shoelace. The mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,094 similarly is primarily configured to prevent untying of shoelaces and uses serrations to pinch the shoelaces.

To the present inventors' knowledge, the known prior art does not meet the objective of stably grasping onto a threaded portion of the shoelace without pinching it and while being able to hold onto the shoelace stably and attractively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide easy to use ornaments for laced shoes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ornament that can be easily attached and dis-attached from a shoelace, even on a donned shoe which has already been laced and tied.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a shoelace attachment for an ornament that functions without pinching the shoelace, and which snugly fits around the shoelace, regardless of whether the shoelace has a round or a flattened construction.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ornament or decal mounting structure for a laced shoe that can interchangeably accommodate a large and variable selection of ornaments to meet different fashion needs that can vary daily or even over shorter time periods.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a mounting portion for an ornament for a laced shoe that is made of two interconnecting parts so as to allow changing the ornamental portion without unlacing the shoe.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized in accordance with the present invention by a shoelace ornament with an upper body, a lower body and a hinge that hingedly couples the upper body to the lower body at one respective end of each of said upper body and lower body; a lock that effects locking of the upper body to the lower body; and the upper body and the lower body defining therebetween, when the ornament is in a closed position, a shoelace opening for the passage therethrough of a shoelace threaded through a footwear article, wherein the shoelace opening is configured to receive the shoelace therein without pinching or squeezing the shoelace between the upper and lower bodies, regardless of whether the shoelace is round bodied or flat bodied.

Preferably, the opening comprises a centrally located circular shaped opening that merges into at least one flat shaped and adjacently located opening or the opening comprises a centrally located circular shaped opening that merges into and is flanked on opposed sides thereof with left and right flat openings sized to accommodate together a flat bodied shoelace.

Preferably, the opening comprises the first opening and a second opening, wherein the second opening is juxtaposed to the first opening across a hollow interior between the upper body and the lower body, and wherein the shoelace is configured to extend through both the first opening and the second opening.

Preferably, the upper body has an upper surface that is textured ornamentally and the ornament comprises a selectively attachable and dis-attachable ornament that configured to be secured to an upper surface on the upper body, in a position to be visible when the shoelace opening is mounted to a shoelace of a shoe-laced shoe. The shoelace ornament is configured to interchangeably receive one or more ornaments at an upper surface located on the upper body. The upper surface is sufficiently large to accommodate several ornaments interchangeably and simultaneously.

Preferably, the lock comprises a locking pin that is spring biased to extend out of one of the upper body and the lower body and to be received inside a juxtaposed lock element receiving hole. The lock may comprise one or more mechanical snaps. The lock may comprise at least one magnet located on one of the upper body and the lower body for attracting and securely holding onto ferromagnetic material located in the other of said upper body and lower body. The lock may comprise a holding projection extending from the upper body, at a position to assist the separation of the upper body from the lower body when the lock is operated to an open state. The lock may be juxtaposed to the hinge.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a first embodiment of a mounting portion for a laced shoe.

FIG. 2 is another perspective of the mounting portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the mounting portion of the ornament of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows the mounting portion of the ornament of FIG. 1 is an opened, ready to be donned, position.

FIG. 4a shows a lock mechanism of the mounting portion of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4a through 4i generally illustrate functional components of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective showing a shoe with the ornament of FIG. 1 attached thereto.

FIGS. 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d show another embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe.

FIGS. 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d show a third embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe.

FIGS. 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e and 7f show a fourth embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe.

FIGS. 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d show a fifth embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe.

FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and 9e show a sixth embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe.

FIGS. 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e and 10f show a seventh embodiment of an ornament for a laced shoe in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a mounting portion for an ornament for a laced shoe that can accommodate multiple and interchangeable ornamental pieces.

FIGS. 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d show a variety of ornamental pieces that can be attached to the mounting portion of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-4, an ornament 10 suited for laced shoes comprises a top surface 12 that is intended to bear a decoration which is either or built into its surface or attachable thereto. The ornament 10 comprises an upper housing 14 located above a bottom housing portion 16, hingedly connected to one another via hinge 18 (or a living hinge) and designed to locked together at their other ends via a locking mechanism 30. When the housing parts 14, 16 are separated as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom housing part 16 can be slipped under any section of the shoelace and the upper housing 14 pressed down interlocking the housing parts to obtain the overall ornament shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The housing parts 14, 16 define at the right and left sides of the ornament 10 shoelace-shaped openings 20, more specifically a right side opening 20 a and an identical left side opening 20 b, as shown in FIG. 2. When the unlocking pin or knob 32 of the locking mechanism 30 is pushed with the fingernail of the like to the right, the two housing parts 14, 16 can be separated as in FIG. 4. Thereupon, when the bottom housing part 16 is pushed under a shoelace, the shoelace will be entrapped between the two housing parts with the shoelace resting and passing through the two openings 20 a, 20 b, each of which has a center opening 21 that is circular, flanked by flat and thin openings 23 a, 23 b. The circular opening 21 is able to accommodate a circular, i.e., round shaped, shoelace, without being excessively squeezed or crushed or pinched by the ornament, which avoids possibly damaging the shoelace. On the other hand, if the shoelace has a flat shoelace construction, the shoelace will be extend over the entire width of the opening 20, namely through the round center section 21 into the right/left flat openings 23 a, 23 b, as shown in FIG. 1. The identical mode of engaging the shoelace occurs at the other shoelace opening 20 b. The finger 32 (FIG. 3) allows holding onto the upper housing part 14 while attending to unlocking the housing parts when sliding the unlocking pin 32 to the right and pushing down.

Turning to FIG. 4a , further details of the locking mechanism 30 can be appreciated by noting that a locking pin 34 (FIG. 4) is housed so as to jut out of the bottom housing under the force of a concealed spring 38 which can be pressed back with the unlocking pin 32. To snap lock the housing parts together, all that is needed is to apply a slight force on the upper surface 12 of the upper housing 14. Thereby, the locking pin 34 will be pushed by a sloping surface 35 (FIG. 4a ) inwardly, allowing it to reach the deeper catching hole 37 in the body. Thereby, the locking pin 34 will be initially depressed and thereafter slide into the deep catch hole 37, the two housing parts 14, 16 becoming locked in the body portion 39.

In FIG. 4, one can note the interior space 25 between the housing part which is largely empty thereby avoiding applying excessive force or pinching action onto the shoelace 8. FIG. 5 perspectively shows the ornament 10 attached to the shoelace toward the bottom, but the attachment can be at any location along the shoelaces. Obviously, the shoelace ornament 10 can be provided in a larger size and placed in the middle and cover and extend over several of the shoelace strands 8 of the shoe in this case sneaker 6. It is also noteworthy that the top and bottom housing generally match each other so that if the top surface is decorated, it would conceal the mounting portion that appears below the decoration. The decorative element might be attached by various means to the top and be independent of the mounting portion including as described, for example, later on with reference to FIGS. 11 and 11 a-11 d.

Referring to FIGS. 4b-4i , the above-described functional aspects of the invention are further illustrated showing generically these aspects with a greater specificity including an ornament 1410 with an upper housing 1412, a bottom housing 1416, an upper surface 1412 into which is carved a design 1413, generally as previously described. The housing parts 1414, 1416 are hingedly connected by a hinge 1418, so that when they are pressed together as shown in FIG. 4c , all that is visible is the upper surface 1412 on which is depicted an ornamental design 1413, here the symbol $1 0 0 0. The shoelace 8 passes lengthwise through the ornament 1410 with all else concealed below the lace, to improve the aesthetics.

As previously described, the locking mechanism 1430 has a knob 1432 which can have a knurled surface 1432 a allowing easy grasping and sliding so as to easily release the locking pin 1434 from a locking hole that is provided in the locking arm 1439 which is part of the upper housing 1414. The large void 1425 between the upper and lower housing parts provides a space through which the shoelace passes when it is threaded through the left and right openings previously described.

The overall design provides a symmetrical look with the shoelace being capable of being perfectly centered. In general, the same mechanism can be adopted into both standard plate-like designs, as well as sculptural designs such as designs that show a winged basketball or a teddy bear playing the guitar.

FIG. 4b shows an oiling hole 1405 that allows long-term maintenance of a compression spring located inside the mechanism thus ensuring the ornament will have a long life. The entire width of the locking mechanism which is embedded in the bottom housing 1416 is hidden when the ornament 1410 is locked, to create an unobtrusive design. This includes the pin 1432 which is hidden under the lace and moreover, reduces the probability of accidentally touching and causing the ornament 1410 to unlock.

With specific reference to FIG. 4e , the overall shoelace opening 1420 (which is provided at both left/right sides of the ornament 1410) has the centered round opening 1421 that is flanked by a right side more flat and sideways extending shoelace opening 1423 a and a complementary, symmetrical opening 1423 b at the left side. Note that the overall opening is somewhat curved, providing a concave shape shoelace channel 1420 which allows manual adjustment while preventing sliding of the ornament relative to the shoelace. The left and side shoelace openings 1423 a, 1423 b have a height that changes from its narrowest at the point where it enters the center hole 1421 which can be on the order of about a 0.95 mm gap between the plates which ensures a gentle but secure grip on most flat shoelaces. At the center, the diameter is preferably in the range of about 3.5 mm which is perfected for round shoelaces.

In FIG. 4d , the upper housing part 1414 includes a stopper 1406 that prevents over-closing of the housing parts due to excessive force being applied. The latch 1422 allows easy grip while opening the ornament 1410. The hollow or scooped center 1425 ensures the ornaments remain lightweight and also significantly reducing cost when implementing the ornament 1410 of expensive precious materials.

In FIG. 4f , note the front opening 1403 which allows the shoelace to be visible. The arcuate cutouts 1401 and 1402 are a design feature. In FIG. 4i , a groove 1407 accommodates a torsion spring that creates an opening bias, ensuring that the housing parts 1414, 1416 are biased to move apart when the unlocking pin 1432 is actuated. The unlocking pin 1432 is part of a sliding male-female mechanism providing several benefits including that it is easy to operate, it is hidden in the bottom plate unobtrusive in normal wear, is difficult to accidentally trigger unlike a simple button and more secure than magnets.

The combination of a torsion spring opening bias and a compression spring based sliding male-female lock 1430, creates a mechanism which is user friendly and is easy to operate while remaining secure and minimizing risk of accidental opening. By ensuring high quality springs are used, pieces can be designed to last a long time.

Other embodiments of the invention employ the general construction concept described above, but are provided in different formats utilizing different closure mechanisms and different shapes. With reference to FIGS. 5a-5d , the ornament 510 has upper and lower body portions 514, 516 that are hingedly coupled at one side via hinge 518. At the opposed end, a locking mechanism 534 may comprise several ferromagnetic beads that are attractable to micro-magnets located on opposed sides including in the portion 532 at the upper piece that enable the two housing halves to engage one another.

In the same vein, FIGS. 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d show an ornament 610 with upper and lower housing parts 614, 616 hinged at 618 and defining an opening 620 similar to the opening 520 in the previous embodiment all of which have the same general concept of a central opening that is flanked by side right and left flat openings 623 a, 623 b that provides the possibility accommodating without being breached either a circular round lace or a lace that is wider and flat. In some of the embodiments, most of the shape of the lace opening is defined by the upper housing, but the invention is not limited to this as the two housing parts can define the opening to the opposed size, juxtaposed to one another, by both housing components.

Similarly, the ornament 730 of FIGS. 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e and 7f has an upper housing 714, a lower housing part 716, a hinge 718 and a closure mechanism 730, that uses mechanical or magnetically implemented closures. In this embodiment, the top surface supports an integral, first shaped ornament 713 and the entire body shape at the top is formed in the shape of the ornamental feature shown in FIG. 7 e.

Deviating somewhat from the prior embodiments, the ornament 810 of FIGS. 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d is dominated by the generally oval shape ornament 813 that sits atop a U-shaped housing with an upper part 814, and a bottom part 816 which is designed so that the bottom part 816 can be slipped under a shoelace. A screw (not shown) threaded through an opening at the top is used to connected to the bottom housing.

Turning to FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and 9e , in this embodiment the ornament 910 has an upper housing portion 914 which constitutes the ornament itself which in the shape of the letters NY 913 (emulating the logo of a New York sports team) which is hingedly connected via hinge 918 to the bottom portion 916 with the locking mechanism 930 comprising a magnetic element.

The same concept of FIGS. 9a-9e is used for the ornament 1010 of FIGS. 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d and 10e and 10f , where the ornamental portion 1013 is a well-known logo that is provided atop the upper housing 1014 and which connects to the bottom housing 1016, via magnetic or mechanical joints, but leaves a very large opening 920 that is generally flat but can also accommodate a round shoelace. Note the opening 1020 where the circular shoelace would naturally fall into the large opening 1021, which also extends into the narrower opening 1023, enabling it to comfortably accommodate the larger width flat shoelaces.

While the present invention has been described above in a form where a single ornament or decal or decorative element is attachable to the shoelace, in FIG. 11 is shown a mounting 1110 that is able to simultaneously accommodate several ornaments, such as the discrete ornaments 1015, 1017, 1019 a and 1019 b shown in FIGS. 11a through 11d . The mounting piece 1110 has an ornament holding surface 1112 that is provided with four sets ornament insertion holes 1012 a, 1012 b, 1012 c and 1012 d. Each hole-set 1012 has six or eight holes arranged in a circle. The attachable ornaments, for example the ornament 1013 (FIG. 11a ) has on the rear thereof two locking pins 1015 that are spaced so they can be received on two juxtaposed holes 1012 a. In an eight hole-set, this allows the ornament to be rotated relative to the mount 1110 like the handle on a watch face.

The user can choose the ornament shape and its orientation relative to the shoelace. The mount 1110 can accommodate several or even very large ornament to fit the fashion statement, the event or just the moment. To a sports event, the ornament(s) will be sports oriented, while for a formal event the ornaments may comprise expensive jewelry pieces.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoelace ornament, comprising: an upper body, a lower body and a hinge that hingedly couples the upper body to the lower body at one respective end of each of said upper body and lower body; a lock that effects locking of the upper body to the lower body; and the upper body and the lower body defining therebetween, when the ornament is in a closed position, a shoelace opening for the passage therethrough of a shoelace threaded through a footwear article, wherein the shoelace opening is configured to receive the shoelace therein without excessively pinching or squeezing the shoelace between the upper and lower bodies, regardless of whether the shoelace is round bodied or flat bodied.
 2. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the opening comprises a centrally located circular shaped opening that merges into at least one flat shaped and adjacently located opening.
 3. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the opening comprises a centrally located circular shaped opening that merges into and is flanked on opposed sides thereof with left and right flat openings sized to accommodate together a flat bodied shoelace.
 4. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the opening comprises the first opening and a second opening, wherein the second opening is juxtaposed to the first opening across a hollow interior between the upper body and the lower body, and wherein the shoelace is configured to extend through both the first opening and the second opening.
 5. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the upper body has an upper surface that is textured ornamentally.
 6. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, further comprising a selectively attachable and dis-attachable ornament that configured to be secured to an upper surface on the upper body, in a position to be visible when the shoelace opening is mounted to a shoe lace of a shoe-laced shoe.
 7. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the shoelace ornament is configured to interchangeably receive one or more ornaments at an upper surface located on the upper body.
 8. The shoelace ornament of claim 7, wherein the upper surface is sufficiently large to accommodate several ornaments interchangeably and simultaneously.
 9. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the lock comprises a locking pin that is spring biased to extend out of one of the upper body and the lower body and to be received inside a juxtaposed lock element receiving hole.
 10. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the lock comprises one or more mechanical snaps.
 11. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the lock comprises at least one magnet located on one of the upper body and the lower body for attracting and securely holding onto ferromagnetic material located in the other of said upper body and lower body.
 12. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, further comprising a holding projection extending from the upper body, at a position to assist the separation of the upper body from the lower body when the lock is operated to an open state.
 13. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, wherein the lock is juxtaposed to the hinge.
 14. The shoelace ornament of claim 1, further comprising a spring to bias the upper body and the lower body to move away from each other.
 15. The shoelace ornament of claim 3, wherein the opening comprising the centrally-located circular-shaped opening and the left and right flat openings define a composite opening for shoelaces with a bottom surface that is concave in a direction facing toward the upper body. 